A Jewel, A Riddle And A Princess
by binaryShenanigans
Summary: Yugo and Grufon have a nice little chat about Guardianship while sailing on the blue calm. The title is honestly unrelated, so think nothing of it.


It was not the snoring of old Ruel, nor the gentle rocking of the waves that awoke the sleeping Eliatrope, but the raspy whispers of a distressed map.

"Psst! Pssst, kid!"

Rubbing his eyes, Yugo glanced up at the ceiling.

"Down here!"

He obeyed the voice, peering sleepily down over his side of the bed. There laid the map, enchanted by the Shushu just recently known as Grufon.

"Yeah, you got the idea! Kid! Uhh, I gotta ask you something!"

Glancing at Amalia, who slept soundly with her back to him, Yugo smiled half-deliriously and picked up the map.

"Yeah?" The boy rubbed his eyes again, trying to stifle a yawn. "What is it?" Sleep tugged at his eyes and shortened his speech, as if punishing him for waking so abruptly

.

"Uh— Well, I—Uhhh…!— " Grufon stalled and stuttered, seeming to momentarily forget his reason for waking Yugo in the first place. "Uhhh, I just wanted t'ask something!"

Giggling in a throaty whisper, the boy rolled his head, grunting as the tension in his neck vanished. "You already said that, you know."

"Oh," the Shushu froze and his eyes widened, "I did? Oh." He forced an awkward laugh, clearing his throat as he began to shiver. "Well! It's definitely the truth, I meant to ask you something! Uh…" Grufon (now consciously) found that every time he looked upwards to face the sleepy Eliatrope, he lost all conviction and felt like curling up and giving in. He looked back down to the crumpled bed sheets and took yet another deep breath. "D'you really know what you're getting yourself into here, kid?"

Yugo could not help but furrow his eyebrows at the Shushu's inquiry, now more roused by his concern. "I told you I know what being a Guardian takes! Sort of… If I become your Guardian, you won't feel sad or left out." Smiling more to reassure Grufon than anything, the boy leaned on his side, propping up his head with his elbow. "See? Why do you keep asking me all that? I know for sure what responsibility I have now!" At this, Grufon's jaw fell slack in horror.

The fact that the little Eliatrope only agreed to be his Guardian to appease him was mortifying.

"Wh… What do you think you're doing, saying all that?" The Shushu's parchment began to curl in and even seemed to ruffle up in shame. "I don't want a Guardian who's just there t'keep me in line!"

Feeling that he had said something wrong, Yugo's shoulders loosened again. "Isn't…" He frowned, eyes glittering in the dark and reflecting the moon's glow, "Isn't that what a Guardian does?"

"NO!" Grufon screeched so loudly that the valiant Iop knight across the room stirred, groaning as he scratched his upper arm and turned over to fall back asleep. "That's, uh…" Again, shame overtook the map demon. "That's not what a Guardian does. See the great dumb Iop over there, huh?" Yugo obediently turned his head to Sadlygrove's sleeping back. "Sure, of course the Iop SAYS he hates his Shushu! And of course Rubilax SAYS his Guardian's a nuisance, huh?" Glancing back to Grufon with only his eyes, Yugo nodded. "But come on," Grufon announced with a grin as he beamed with giddy joy, "That's a textbook Guardian-Shushu relationship. They're born to be together forever, whether they like it or not. And you might not see it, but they care about each other." Yugo felt he was suddenly lost in the map demon's enthusiasm over the beautiful relationship between a Shushu and their Guardian, but he smiled and nodded with a little snicker anyway. "But, uh… I meant, the point of all that was…" The Shushu became shy again, feeling again unable to speak from his heart of hearts.

Yugo blinked once, but a sly little smirk swept across his face as he leaned in closer to face the map. "You want me to care about you secretly too?"

Although the young Eliatrope's mood shift was in good fun, he managed to utterly paralyze the map demon.

"Hhhhhhhhhhh…" Grufon certainly gave it his best effort to speak, but only raspy air came forth. "Hhhhuuhhh? Y-you tryin' to intimidate me, kid?" Curling in again, the map pouted and fussed. "You're not gonna do that, you don't scare me!"

"Come join me in bed and let me cuddle you before I set you on fire, you lying little rat."

What made the Shushu's heart plummet to his stomach was not the boy's words, but the fact that the little ruffian was still smirking.

"Y… Yes, sir," mumbled Grufon, still shaking as he curled up completely, rolling closer to Yugo. Warm, firm little arms closed around him and soothed his chills even if just a bit.

"Sshh, shhh," the little Eliatrope hushed his Shushu, feeling guilty for inspiring such a traumatized reaction, "It's okay…! did I 'care about you secretly' too hard?" However, Grufon shook his 'head' and scoffed in warm laughter.

"No. You were perfect."

The tassles at the ends of the map's handle brushed affectionately against Yugo's face, causing the boy to giggle raspily.

"Okay, good!" Yugo squeezed his arms around his Shushu tighter, grinning and gritting his teeth together happily. "Can we go back to sleep, now?"

"Yeahhh, yeah, fine!" Chirped Grufon, feigning an offended tone. "Let's sleep."

"Uh-huh. Goodnight, Grufon…~"

"… … … Yugo?"

"Yessss…?"

"… … Could you say things like, uh… The 'burning' thing, could you say things like that more often?"


End file.
